What Is Electronic Supply Chain Management?

Electronic supply chain management helps trade channel members collaborate to save money and deliver better value.

Electronic supply chain management is most commonly referred to as e-supply chain management. It combines the concepts of electronic business (e-business) and supply chain management (SCM), and depicts how trade channel members are working together to optimize resources and opportunities

SCM Basics

Supply chain management emerged in the early 21st century as an extension of transportation and logistics. It is a software-driven business process in which retailers collaborate with suppliers to reduce costs and present the best value to the end customer.

Electronic Opportunities

The internet and advanced software solutions greatly enhance the benefits of SCM partnering. Electronic data interchange (EDI) is shared data between retailers and suppliers. Through SCM collaboration, suppliers can gain access to inventory and logistics data of retailers in order to meet just-in-time inventory demands and to provide efficient responses to customized orders.

Benefits

Though scary to some, open communication and shared data between retailers and suppliers removes business inefficiencies and helps trade channel members mutually gain from cost savings and the delivery of better value for end customers.

References

• Kansas State University: Electronic Supply Chain Management: Some Latest Issues and Practices
• Clarity Consulting: Optimizing the e-Supply Chain: The Final Frontier?